Philippine Fashion Week | Philippines, Asia

Making his directorial debut at 18 years old, Joey Espino is synonymous with the greatest designer shows the Philippine Fashion Industry has ever seen. He has worked with with Pitoy Moreno for a World Tour, Joe Salazaar, Ben Farrales, Natori, Japanese Yumi Katsura, and Italian Designer Renato Ballestra to name a few.

In 1982 he decided to put up his own events production company – Runway Productions – producing gala shows and corporate events for our country’s premier designers and lifestyle brands. Since then, Runway Productions has evolved into a full service production company dedicated to marketing and managing fashion, leisure, and lifestyle.

Today, Runway Productions continues to mount quality events for leading corporations, providing a team of specialists, strategic consultation, creative ideas, comprehensive event and onsite management and execution while generating positive results for clients.

But it was in 1994 that the dream of having our country’s own fashion week was born – when Joey Espino attended New York Fashion Week.

He saw how commanding New York Fashion Week is – the extensive media it generated around the world, the global recognition American Designers were receiving from the platform, and the big business it was generating for the American Fashion Industry. He then decided to go on a journey to create a similar platform for the local fashion industry to give Filipino designers and retail brands a stepping-stone to a global fashion business.

In 1997, Philippine Fashion Week was born on the runways of Glorietta Activity Area in Ayala Center. Its early years saw the participation of mostly commercial fashion brands and group show designers in a presentation that took place for 7-10 days once a year.

However, as the local fashion industry progressed and Philippine Fashion Week was at the dawn of its new decade, its producers made the brave decision to reformat its existing platform. They chose to stage biannual presentations and align Philippine Fashion Week with global fashion weeks around the world.

In 2008, Philippine Fashion Week lit up the runways at its new home at the SMX Convention Center & SM Mall of Asia – welcoming more designers and local brands to the biannual event.

Today, Philippine Fashion Week is the Olympics of Fashion and is the longest runningfashion event in the country – celebrating Filipino talent and creativity twice a year, generating over P 150 million in media exposure locally, regionally, and globally.